Flashback: Nokia N97 was an "iPhone killer" that helped kill Nokia instead

22 November 2020
Touch support on Symbian S60 was the proverbial lipstick on a pig. Neither Nokia's hardware nor its software were ready for the modern digital era.

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • JT5
  • 23 Nov 2020

Firefox, 23 Nov 2020Nokia should have adopt Android for their flagship devices ... moreOnly ones from samsung.

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    • Firefox
    • 6p}
    • 23 Nov 2020

    Nokia should have adopt Android for their flagship devices & Symbian for their mid & low end devices. Because before 2013/14 mid & low end Android devices were very crap.

      I still think this, and the mini, were the best form factor for a phone ever. A modern, well supported remake (not Kickstarter) would surely get a lot of fans

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • gDe
        • 23 Nov 2020

        I had the 5800 xpress music (my first ever smartphone) and the Nokia N8. The first was really good as a music player and did have a decent camera for that time, while the N8 was THE camera beast back then, easily being competitive with dedicated pocket cameras.

        However, any attempt to use the internet on those phones was an abysmal experience. Even writing, posting and receiving emails was just painful.

        Nokia would have survived if they had embraced Apple's philosophy: don't let the device get in the way of the user!

          This is my best Nokia smartphone ever

            I stuck with BlackBerry until Android became good enough to replace it. Until about 2014 I felt that physical keyboards were better than on-screen ones. That just is not so today. Predictive text, estimating what key the user meant to press, and multilingual support are the killers.
            Mind you, I still detest GMail on phones and use BlackBerry Hub.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • LHj
              • 22 Nov 2020

              CEO Elop destroyed Nokia. Not a happy story.

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                • sadh
                • tDF
                • 22 Nov 2020

                Dometalican, 22 Nov 2020That had to do with the developers and how Windows ran thin... moreIf WP is dead, it's microsoft to blame. Nokia sold 10m Lumias. But MS was just not interested in making WP a solid OS to compete.

                Also, it was Nokia that tried hard to bring devs in.

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                  • 4mag
                  • Xx5
                  • 22 Nov 2020

                  I wish slide out keyboards make a come back

                    • s
                    • sadh
                    • tDF
                    • 22 Nov 2020

                    Ugh, not this again. I hate when i must reme the freakin trojan horse elop.

                    Damnit elop. If only nokia wasn't sleeping and went for Android instead.

                    Or fight harder with MeeGo and Symbian. Belle wasn't that bad.

                      AnonD-920712, 22 Nov 2020what is nokia ? A living fossil ?a company which invent majority of technology you use in your smartphone.

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                        • Oldtimer
                        • HCm
                        • 22 Nov 2020

                        The Ovi store was launched in full knowledge that the software was not ready. In fact the EVP in charge (I let you guess his name) over-ruled the No Go decision on the premise that you will never launch bug-free. He only missed the fact he was given by the SW manager that there were still severe bugs. I was in the Go-No Go call, do this is a first hand account.

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • 8js
                          • 22 Nov 2020

                          Personally I disagree. Symbian handled multi-tasking and coped with the limited RAM well. To a degree, I personally rate it higher than Android 4.4, 5.x. I had no idea why at the time users were bitching not having a landscape mode for home screen, as Android even for today, not many launcher support it or handle it right. Part of UI and the software was holding back, then again which OS isn't, even for today? N97 still has the best sun readability colour LCD screen I've seen even for today, the technology behind it was just costly.

                          What killed Symbian was the software eco-system that didn't caught on, and series of mis management decision by Nokia. And the all forcefully all in on Windows Phones was another. And for people for defend Windows Phone - you probably never used one. The fate even Microsoft forced defeat alone is enough said. And the rise of iPhone under the persuasive marketer Steve Job also contribute the begin and final jab.

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                            • Dometalican
                            • 7BB
                            • 22 Nov 2020

                            AnonD-807890, 22 Nov 2020Nokia should've moved onto Windows Phone a lot sooner,... moreThat had to do with the developers and how Windows ran things on their app store. Had windows paid attention, the OS would still exist.

                            Do I believe someone can take over and rejuvenate Windows OS again? Absolutely. Any time soon? ....no.

                              I bought this phone after having had a fantastic time using the N95-8 GB. It was a real disappointment and was effectively the last Nokia phone I bought.

                                • s
                                • sq2013
                                • 0Fx
                                • 22 Nov 2020

                                Hassan90, 22 Nov 2020I had this phone. It was great and amazing by all means. T... moreThey have adopted it. They're useless at it putting out overpriced phones with midrange chipsets for 699 euros

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                                  • Dobridin
                                  • niM
                                  • 22 Nov 2020

                                  I used to have this phone. It was my first touch to flagships and what a dissapointment it was! I barely managed to use it for a year. The OS was so laggy due to hardware limitations that making a call sometimes took couple of minutes. The unlock slider broke just three months after I bought it. This was my first Nokia phone and because of the terrible experience ,- the last of it as well. Also as far as I remember I payed more then 500 euros dor it so the prace was all wrong too!

                                    I had this phone.
                                    It was great and amazing by all means. The camera was another class compared to the iPhone or any other phone.
                                    I wish Nokia had adopted Android. We would have never heard about Samsung or Huawei

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                                      • AnonD-920712
                                      • txp
                                      • 22 Nov 2020

                                      what is nokia ?

                                      A living fossil ?

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                                        • AnonD-807890
                                        • 6sE
                                        • 22 Nov 2020

                                        Nokia should've moved onto Windows Phone a lot sooner, like how Samsung ditched their Symbian competitor (whatever it was called) and swiftly adopted Android, eventually making a killing with the initial Galaxy smartphones.

                                        Had Nokia done the same, they could've saved both themselves and WP. The OS just needed a strong device manufacturer to work with initially, instead of Samsung, HTC or whoever that honored the partnership by releasing a couple of WP smartphones but were clearly focusing mainly on their own Android lineups.